ABSTRACT

The fact that candidate utilization of new technologies receives considerable media attention masks two realities. It would be big news if either Mitt Romney or Barack Obama failed to have a website in 2012. Websites are destination technologies visited primarily by individuals wanting to go there. The visual capabilities of the web, the desire to use its full potential, and the hope of impressing potential subscribers led a number of websites to create innovative online applications of potentially boring and confusing data during the 2012 cycle. Graphical representations of candidate visits, television ad placement, fund-raising, and poll results provided visual snapshots and potentially a better understanding of campaign dynamics. A potential danger of technology-mediated campaigns lies in their impact on the conversation. Traditional media provide much inadvertent information, picked up as one scans headlines or listens to structured news programming.